Choi Soon-sil and An Chong-bum appear for second hearing in criminal trial
Updated: 2017-01-11 20:37:52 KST

Both Choi Soon-sil and former presidential aide An Chong-bum appeared in court at around ten Wednesday morning.
Prosecutors have submitted more documents, after having submitted a quarter of their 27-thousand pages of evidence at the first hearing last week.
Choi has known President Park for four decades and is accused of colluding with Park to pressure big businesses, including Samsung Group, to contribute to non-profit foundations backing the president's initiatives.
But Choi's lawyers denied all charges against her including abuse of power, attempted fraud, and bribery.
Prosecutors also tried to release another crucial piece of evidence -- An's work-related notebook -- which details the president's directives regarding the donations to Mir and K-sports, but he refused, saying that it should not be admissible because it was illegally obtained during the investigation.
The prosecution, however, concluded that both Choi and An are trying to prevent the court from using evidence that could be damaging to President Park.
Other new information presented by the prosecutors include a transcript of a phone conversation between An Chong-bum and the director of K-Sports Foundation last October, which prosecutors say indicate An and Choi's involvement in running K-Sports and Mir foundation.
Another new piece of evidence is a testimony by a Samsung executive, which says that the corporation did donate money to Mir and K-Sports after contact from the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae for fear of the possible disadvantages of not complying.

(standup)
The judges will determine whether the evidences presented by the prosecutors can be accepted. And the next criminal trial hearing for Choi Soon-sil is scheduled for next Wednesday.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News